Describing herself as a colourist ﬁrst and foremost, Gohar Goddard’s art centres on the aesthetics of simplicity, captured in the beauty of careful colour coordination and composition. The correlation of shape and space alludes to her background in fabrics and materials, showing an apparent appreciation of texture and pattern. Colourscapes is no exception; each painting tactile and considered. Combinations of pigment and texture layered onto each canvas create interest and focus, further enhanced by simple geometric structures and gutsy swatches of intense colour that intrigue the eye. This will be Gohar's fifth solo exhibition and we are delighted to be showing her work at the gallery once again.

Morris Nitsun's paintings are unashamedly beautiful. Not only is he attracted to scenes of beauty, but he paints them beautifully. While avoiding the clichés of the pretty and the sentimental, he paints work that is vibrant and arresting. But the paintings are not simply about surface beauty. Many of them convey an atmosphere, of absence and presence, of fullness and emptiness, of transparent light and mysterious shade. Others touch on themes of separation and loss: isolated houses in a landscape; distant, unreachable horizons; untethered boats; a ﬂower in its solitary splendor. The paintings hint at the human predicament that seeks beauty in place of ugliness and discord but may ﬁnd it elusive, or too much to bear. We want beauty but are frightened of it. Beauty reminds us of impermanence, of what is easily lost.

The period since Morris Nitsun's last exhibition at HCA in 2015 has seen further achievement in his parallel careers as a psychologist and artist. His third book "Beyond the Anti-group" was published that year and in 2016 he was awarded the Royal College of Psychiatrists' President's medal for services to mental health in the UK.

This is Morris Nitsun's third exhibition at HCA and his tenth solo exhibition in London. The paintings in this exhibition embrace a wider range of subjects than before – landscape, houses, seascapes, ﬂowers, birds – all united in the beauty they embody. Travels to nearby and distant places inform the work. Trips to Asia evoke exotic seascapes. Mediterranean journeys bring sunlight and warmth. African trips conjure vast landscapes. We invite you to join us and share this exciting body of work and to rejoice in beauty.

The exhibition will display a collection of figurative, landscape, abstract paintings and sketches in a variety of mediums. Including new work by Boo Mallinson, Russell Frampton, Simon Ledson, Euan McGregor, Sam Peacock, Hannah Ivory Baker, Gohar Goddard and many more.

These new paintings are the result of a stay on the island of Uglijan, in the Adriatic, where fishermen in small boats use lights to attract the fish to the surface during the night. These paintings are abstracted from the shapes and movements in the water, from microscopic forms barely visible to the eye to larger sea mammals, as they emerge from the deep.

'It seemed there was a symbolism to this event – perhaps a metaphorical resonance with our own circumstances on land – and a symbolism which it might be possible to approach in paint. These acrylic images are achieved by liberal use of the same medium, water, and are intended to create surfaces which convey atmosphere and mood, which detain the eye beyond a first encounter, which invoke the imagination and which perhaps generate a little alchemy on the canvas.’

Danny Israel studied Fine Art at the University of Wales. He has work in the Victoria and Albert Museum Print Collection and the Elton John Collection, among others.

We are delighted to be showing Danny’s stunning and evocative work at Highgate Contemporary Art.

Roberto Pagliarulo - Classical allusion and colour

Roberto Pagliarulo’s paintings balance allusion to ancient Italy with a pure celebration of form, beauty and colour. There is a real confidence to his solid blocks of flat, complementary colours; Tyrian purple is juxtaposed with burnt orange, Persian blue with marigold yellow, and each image is infused with a Mediterranean light. He accentuates the elegance of everyday objects, such as a basket of apples, with his calligraphic style and rhythmic outlines.

At the same time, there is a sense that every object has been included for its symbolic evocation of Rome’s rich history. Born to an Italian father, Pagliarulo’s inclusion of classical busts, sculptures and mythologised figures, all playfully posed, point towards antiquity. Yet, these paintings escape self-consciousness, which pervades much contemporary art. Neither are these nostalgic images; instead Pagliarulo renews the tradition of classical landscape and still life painting with vitality and charm.

Join us at the private view on Wednesday 7th December 6 - 8.30pm

From 7th December - 15th January we will be exhibiting a wonderful collection of new work by our gallery artists featuring paintings, sculpture, ceramics and jewellery. We also welcome some new artists to the gallery including Threadneedle prize finalist, David Storey whose psychologically charged figurative work is well worth a look!

The loose and expressive brushsmarks in Parastoo's paintings give them energy and movement, be it in her supremely elegant still life work or powerful and romantic landscapes.

Parastoo's paintings are the product of a fertile imagination, the images having developed over the years from constant observation and powerful impressions which she expertly commits to canvas.

Parastoo studied Graphic Design in Iran in the 1970's, and then came to the UK to study Graphics and Animation at Croydon and Bournemouth Art Colleges. She now lives in the heart of Wiltshire where the landscape and surrounds prove to be a constant source of inspiration, feeding Parastoo’s imagination..

In her own words she says that ".....when I moved to the country, I felt that I had awakened from a long and deep sleep. No matter how faithfully I render the scene before me, it does not carry the power to convince if my painting does not represent a fertile imagination. My remembered, or rather invented, landscape paintings are more alive than the paintings I used to do on the same spot; it is my inner consciousness and my feelings which give life to my paintings".

A thing of beauty will show a combination of Parastoo’s floral and landscape work and is certainly an exhibition that should not be missed. Her pieces have been exhibited extensively throughout the UK, Europe and USA and she has work in a number of private collections. We are delighted that Parastoo will be exhibiting with us once again at Highgate Contemporary Art.

The exhibition also displays a selection of beautiful ceramics by Jill Fanshawe Kato and stone sculpture by Jane Waksman.

Private View: Wednesday 12th October 6pm - 8.30pm

Jonathan Davis is a visual abstract artist working in mixed media, creating both two and three dimensional work. Jonathan is concerned with the processes of making and producing abstract surfaces, investigating the visual and aesthetic potential of everyday materials. This show focuses on his two dimensional pieces.

Formerly an architect and urban designer, Jonathan’s work captures elements of design from his former career, producing works in both colour and monochrome that have a distinctly urban, almost industrial aesthetic.

Jonathan uses pure transition elements as pigments which he often combines with acrylic paint, applied to canvas and panels. His innovative processes set up conditions for generating phenomena through the interaction of transition elements with reagents. His painting techniques exploit these pigments’ propensity for change thus bringing about new states which result in a variety of partially predictable colour, mark and texture.

Panta Rhei is from Heraclitus (ca. 500 BCE) meaning “everything flows”. Heraclitus was a pre-Socratic philosopher who stated that fire was the origin of all things and that permanence is an illusion as all things are in perpetual flux.

In Jonathan’s Panta Rhei pieces we see the results of carefully controlled procedures. The colour and textural qualities of hand prepared metallic paints are transformed on the surface of the paintings with chemical reagents. Whilst some of the work comprises single surfaces, often in large format, other pieces are produced in modular panels that are magnetically float mounted on steel sheets enabling choice and comparison. Some of the pieces in this series are seen as having geo or topographical relationships with the real world while others are perhaps characters in the manner of “personages”.

These phenomena paintings are the result of unique and innovative processes. They are texturally rich, aesthetically complex and we are delighted to be exhibiting them at Highgate Contemporary Art.

Nestled amongst the olive trees, vineyards and cypresses, red-tile roofs appear; you hear the screech of cicadas and breathe the sweet earthy scents of wild thyme and lavender. Oleanders bloom along the highways against a backdrop of austere, sun-filled landscape. The unique clarity of light gives an incredible depth and sharpness to both natural and man-made forms, intensifying their colour and warmth and casting dramatic shadows. This is Provence. It is hard not to find inspiration in such a region.

Born in Provence and having been inspired and influenced by the countryside surrounding her family farmhouse, Luce Géas paints her emotional response to these beautiful scenes that are so familiar. Working in oils, each mark of the palette knife on the canvas is made with confidence and certainty, creating beautiful texture and strong composition. Increasingly fauvist in style, Luce presents simple shape and form with lively, explosive colours that convey the spirit of place or subject with energy and vivacity.

Despite her childhood passion for painting, Luce has graduated to Agrégée de l’Université from the Sorbonne and has an MSc from the London School of Economics in Political Science. She then went on to lecture at the LSE until she retired to concentrate on her painting, working in both Provence and her London studio. In 2010 Luce was awarded the Légion d’Honneur, France’s highest honour following a distinguished career both professionally, socially and artistically. Luce has exhibited extensively and has many loyal followers. We are delighted to be showing her work once again at Highgate Contemporary Art,